Your Happy Hour - Success via Your Soul

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

In this episode, we chat to Stephanie Casaubon, an internationally recognized coach, specializing in Empowerment and Life Design helping creatives reconnect with their inner wisdom - transforming restlessness into clarity and purpose. Her statement: “After chasing success, I chose alignment — and everything changed.” We explore the themes of achievement, fulfillment, and creativity and how the quiet courage to listen and follow your intuition can lead to a more fulfilling life and one that is full of miracles and significance. Stephanie's journey into coaching and writing sets a powerful example and philosophy that we don’t have to choose between success and our soul, because true success is living in alignment with the soul. Check out her book: “Beyond Success”, and her other work including bespoke retreats and weekend workshops in Paris.The Feels is all about having those honest conversations, the power of community for personal growth and taking those actionable steps towards being our authentic selves.Thanks for tuning in! Keep it raw and real out there xYHH is produced byswartkat.co - captured viariverside.fm & shared via rss.com.

It's the Friday feels and we're back with your first sip of the weekend. You're now tuned in to this week's episode of your happy hour. I'm your host Nicole Carmine and it's amazing to have you here. Joining me this week as we uncover the truths about being a human and a working professional. What are you up to this Friday? Well, whatever it is, this moment is just for you. A big welcome back to the feel space, the Your Happy Hour podcast. And we are on the last episode of this theme for the month of January.

Can you believe we are entering a new month in February? I cannot. And we are still wrapping up on the theme of relieving achieving. So I recently was very privileged to kind of bump into a wonderful human that. is going to chat to us about this topic today and it feels so aligned with your journey, Stephanie. So it's such a big welcome to this space and this podcast. And yeah, so lovely to meet you in Paris out and about in the world. Thank you, Nicole.

It's such a privilege to be here as well. And thank you for inviting me to share with you and your listeners on one of my favorite topics, which is, well, achievement and fulfillment. Yeah, I feel like this is really kind of really, really, your journey. I mean, a lot of what you sent me in your bio, and I know you've got a book that's out, and we can chat about that. But what stood out for me, and you can tell us a little bit more about your journey, was you said that after chasing success, I chose alignment and everything changed. So tell me about that. Like, what brought you to this point? Why are you in

Paris? Why this journey? Yeah, you know, it's one of those things that I grew up, you know, in the United States. I'm American. And there's a lot of emphasis placed on achievement. And as we're growing, it's to the next thing, right? It's always the next mile post. And there came a point in my late 20s where I had essentially checked all the boxes. And it was like, and now what? Right? I had this amazing career in medicine. I was married. I had a gorgeous living in New York City. I had this gorgeous condo on the waterfront. It's like I'm checking these boxes and yet there's just something missing. And so that's when my journey toward what I now know is fulfillment began. I'm quite curious about this because I know a lot of what you do is also work as

creatives now. We do tend to have a lot of entrepreneurs and founders that gravitate towards this podcast, but I'm a creative myself and I totally get how hard it can be to find that alignment, to find that fulfillment, and actually to have success as a creative through that, you know, because we all start of wanting to be artists and then we kind of lose our ways in trying to be financially stable, I think, you know. But what drew you towards helping creatives and like how do you go about that? Yeah. Well it was when I was in New York City and I was just embarking on this chapter where I need something in my life. And upon reflection, I remembered at the time I was 20, what, six or seven. And when I was a kid, I loved to perform. I played

classical piano. I was in the choir. I was in the school plays. I was, and so that was all extracurricular. And when it came to the end of high school and it was time for the scholastics, it's put on my scholar hat and now I am pre-med and going to, you know, to get a degree in medicine. And so it was just a totally different trajectory from what I enjoyed doing. as a young person. And I realized that was what was missing, that in my career in medicine, that I didn't have any creative outlets

or creative expression for myself. And I thought, here I am in New York City. I grew up in the Midwest, Illinois specifically. And I said, what better place to get back on stage? At the time, I wasn't sure what it would look like, singing, dancing, performing. but I just knew and that was where it all took off. So that is where that chapter of creativity met my chapter of logical choices.

And it was a really lovely balance. It was probably one of the most balanced times I've been in my life because I had the fortune of having a, or the good fortune of having a career that had a stable income. So I was able to be in this creative world and not struggle. And I do understand that that's, that's rare, right? Because most of my colleagues at the time were from job to job. And I was passionate and so fulfilled and so joyful, met some of the most wonderful humans that I'm still in contact with today. And so that went on for some time. Like I said, I performed and did a lot of acting and some producing all independent stuff mostly

between the years of 2007-8 up until 2013-14. Wow. I love that. I love that you could follow your joy. I'm all about that. I mean, in my life also. I feel like we are all creative souls. And we all need that balance. But it's hard finding it. And I think we're always trying to kind of like, you know, relieve the achievement, try to figure out how do you make yourself proud and make others proud, maybe expectations around that in your life. And then kind of figure out what your path is along the way, you know. And what changed for you after that? Did other things happen that you didn't expect? Yes. So at that time, I had some health struggles, which took me away from that industry. And I was becoming a mother around the same time.

And so I was putting all of my efforts into that. And I have two lovely daughters who joined our family by adoption. And so it was really important to be completely present. And so that's where all my creativity went that time, you know, all of my energy, all of my creativity went into raising my young girls. And within a couple of years, so around 2017, 2016, is when I started writing because I realized, okay, I need to continue my creative outlet. This is what brings me joy. And so at the time, that is what I was doing to supplement that. So I had written some poetry when my older daughter was

really little. And so that was keeping me just in my in my creative element. And then I started writing a novel and then I wrote my children's book that was then released in 2020. So like it's kind of like a stepwise, you know, one thing led to the other, but it's interesting because I wouldn't have done the next thing without the thing right before it. And I think sometimes that's what people miss is they think they're doing it wrong. And the reality is, is that it's the journey. And what if there is no wrong? What if everything you're meeting on your path is informing who you're becoming? And if we can accept that we're all on a journey of becoming, that there is no arriving, right? That it's all becoming.

as long as we're breathing and trusting that as you move into new seasons, that it's okay if certain passions and certain things that were in your life take up less space because you're making room for something else that is also bringing you joy, right? And just kind of waiting through that with open eyes and trusting that the answers are within in the intuition and not necessarily in the brain, logically speaking, especially for creatives, I think. Yeah, I resonate a lot with what you say, because it's always like a battle between the mind

and the heart, you know. So, but it's interesting because I think that we often try to find balance outside of ourselves when so much of that is within us. But we're not really taught to really go within and listen. I think it's so noisy in the world and then maybe we go to a coach or a therapist and we're like, okay, this is a quiet space where someone can listen to my insides. But we don't really give ourselves that space necessarily to do that. And not everyone can obviously go to a therapist or anything like that. So I guess for everyone listening, I want to encourage you to like sit still and be you know and and I know it's not a easy thing to do but

have you found that your kids also like taught you creativity and and because kids are so connected in that way oh 100 percent yes my my daughters are so connected to uh their intuition right they don't think right they follow their their intuitive sense and I don't even want to say that it's instinct. It's like it's an intuitiveness. They're at a delicate age now of 10 and 12 where the judgments and like those things start to happen. And I think that's what starts to curb one's childhood, right, is other people's opinions of certain things. In fact, my daughter, she's kind of an improvised singer. And I know that sounds bizarre. She's been doing it since she was like four. She will stand and she will just sing.

She will improv songs. And they're so, so moving. And she said to me the other day, Mom, do you think that I could put a song on, on, we have iTunes? On iTunes. And I said, well, yes, anyone can publish a song on iTunes. And she said, well, I don't know if anybody would listen to it. And I said, why do you say? And she said, well, my songs are sad songs.

And I said, I love sad songs. She said, you do? I said, of course. And so I started playing some of the ones. And I said, how about apologize by one public? And she was like, I said, you know, wake me up inside, Evanescence. Like there are songs that, you know, the lyrics, if you listen to them, they connect with people. I said, and sad songs actually help people feel less alone.

And she said, okay, you know, and it was just really lovely. So, yeah, she's ready to share, like, her creativity unfiltered. The only question was is, would anybody else want to listen to a sad song? And the answer is unequivocally, absolutely, right? 100%. And I think that's what's so beautiful. I mean, this is the field space. We talk about the fields.

We all have these feelings. And yet we deny them. We feel like they're not allowed in our space. But the moment we own them, the moment we share them, we release it. We give other people permission to feel and to let that go too. So I think that's beautiful. And I also improvise songs sometimes, you know. And I think every artist, no matter how young or old you are,

it's that constant doubt of, is anyone else going to love us? and I remember when I was younger in university I was tutoring and the dad said to me he was also kind of writing his own script and film and he said I said I'd love to write a book one day and he said you know Nicole you can but just do it for you first and then the world if they love it will resonate with that the right people will find it but do it for you first

and that stuck with me forever and ever you know but it's quite a hard thing to do I think we because maybe we are own risk critic. I don't know. Absolutely. And that's one of the things that I tell a lot of my clients, you know, in our coaching conversations is, you know, I coach a lot of filmmakers and dancers and I have a singer and painter.

It's like, what's the painting you want to see? What's the movie you want to watch? What needs to be told right now? You know, what is your story? Because I think often we try to, think what does someone else want when the reality is connection that's what people want is connection and so if you are coming from your heart-centered place as a creative and creating something that resonates with you you can bet that it will resonate with somebody else because people want

connection yeah yeah 100 and you know it's interesting that the way we made you know at a at a meetup where people are looking for other people and connection. It's the, I feel like connection is the new currency of the world. And maybe slowly as, or quickly, as the financial systems are collapsing around us, that will become the way in which we experience again and remember what it's like to be human. Because that is what it is to be human, in my opinion, you know. But we've forgotten about that a little bit. I think we're so rushing in our days from one thing to another,

trying to, you know, make a buck so that we can eat. And yeah, so I think it's really beautiful that you've now entered this phase of and embracing that. And then empowering other people. I mean, that's the most magical part as being able to, but I can imagine it's quite rewarding. It's incredibly rewarding. And if I hadn't had that season of performing myself and being. in the industry, then I would never have been able to become the coach that I am. You know, and if I hadn't been in medicine for a decade, like loving, serving, and helping

people, the reason I'm a coach is because I said, oh, gosh, you know, I'm a service-oriented person and I am beyond my medical, you know, season. And so I found coaching in that way, a way to help people. and, you know, but now instead of writing a prescription, you know, to help them or ordering tests, now I ask questions and help them find the solutions inside and support them as they courageously take those steps, which is, which lights me up in a way that very few things in my life ever have. Oh, I love that. I'm so happy for you.

And then for the people you work with that you get to show that, it's really a, special feeling. And I'm curious, so along your journey, because it's not been very traditional, have you had people that also kind of mentored you along the way and had given you advice? Yeah. So interestingly, my first engagement with a coach, so I hadn't had any experience with it. And this was still when I was, I had stopped performing. I was producing a little bit, and I'd started writing. And I had my first engagement. It was part of the Hollywood Women's Collective

that I was a member of. And we would meet quarterly and bring in a mentor of some kind. And this one mentor's name was Debbie Roth. And she was a, or is, a love and self-forgiveness coach. And this woman, Sasha Alexandra, brought her in as the mentor. for the meeting. And the moments of reflection that this woman offered, the questions she posed, never in my life have I been asked. And it changed my life. Like in that moment on that day. And I knew at the end of that meeting, I walked right up to her and I said, I don't know anything

about this and I know I need more of it. Right? And so she became my first coach. Before I even knew I was going to do coaching, right? And so this was my introduction to the world. But again, it came through the Hollywood Women's Collective, which I was a member of because I was in the entertainment industry for some time. So you know what I mean?

And so again, all of these things that kind of unfold is sometimes just trusting that like even if you don't see or know the how, that it's all unfolding. I feel that too so much. And I think we're living in a time of trust and faith. You know, I feel like even more than ever we are asked to not know the three steps ahead, but literally just be able to kind of take a step and then land where it needs to land and have faith. It'll be okay.

And it's not always linear, like you said. Like you had to go to a certain specific. meeting and then yeah i think life just takes you on these twists and tunes and being open to the journey is i think it's it's a challenging thing but it's such a rewarding experience so and then it led you to writing so tell me about the books and the first publication i was ever a part of was like way back in 2006 and i was a contributing writer in this like small anthology of poems called timeless voices and then i just did writing for my my own pleasure and poems and I would give them as gifts and things like that.

And I had started writing a novel about Paris, actually. And it was a just like an edgy romance, but yet woman walking a line of discontent mixed with health challenges. It's not a biography or a memoir. But it is informed by, obviously, my own experiences. And I was writing that up until my daughter's reform. And then as soon as they started preschool, I was like, oh, back to my novel, right? And I was sitting at a coffee shop in L.A. and I couldn't write. I was like, all I could think about was my kid and is she, like, crying and there's everything.

And so I started writing my children's book on that day, my second daughter's first day of preschool. And so I worked on that from 2017 to 19, and I was picked up by an independent publisher in New York, and it was published in 2020. And so that's about the time my coaching career started ramping up. And so then when I was thinking about the next thing I was writing, so of course, I was still putting time in on the novel, but there was a piece that was, oh, you know, I really feel like I need to speak to the people that I coach or who come to me. because as you said, not everybody can afford therapy. Not everybody can afford coaching. So many people I get to meet. And especially creatives, there's not a budget for it.

And I thought to myself, there's got to be a way where I can create something to get people started, almost like on a self-paced journey. And there's a lot of self-development books out there. And I find them quite prescriptive, if you know what I mean? Yeah. It's just like you're reading it and you're like, oh, yeah. And you highlight it. And you're like, yeah. And then when it comes to the application of it, you know, after a couple

weeks, you're like losing that steam, right? And so that's why I thought it was like, how can I bring what I do one to one to somebody in a, in a setting, undisturbed setting of their choosing? And so what I did was kind of flesh out the model that I use with my client. and allow there to be not just even a real world application of it based on my client histories, but also exercises to put into practice the thing that I'm speaking on. So it's a self-development book, but it's also a journal at the same time. And so it's six main parts. And I always tell people it's, um,

you know, it's not a book where you sit down and you just read it, right? It's definitely you sit with these thoughts and ideas. And I always say, the minute you read something, you're like, oh, just stop. Just stop and let that sit resonate, right? And so I say, oh, six-week journey minimum, like self-paced, six-week journey. You know, you can get it for 10 bucks on Kendall, you know what I mean? Like that kind of thing. And I had a client the other day.

she was like six weeks, I think six months, like you just sit a month with these topics. She's like, these are, you know, she said these are big things to really think about. It's changed the way I've looked at everything in my life. And I think that's interesting too is that whatever you're coming for that you're blocked on, how we do anything is how we do everything. Yeah, that is true. So whatever is currently, whether it's a challenge or face. or an opportunity you don't know how to access, right?

Whichever way it is, whether you're desperate for change or your desiring change, it starts with just slowing down enough to take a look at how do I handle this in other areas of my life? How is it working for me? How is it not working for me? And then, like you said before, it's just one day at a time. One step. If you did one thing a day, after a year, that's 365 things you've done towards this dream, goal, opportunity, whatever it is that you're desiring to align with in your life.

It's like often people have recommended the book, Atomic Habits or Tiny Habits on here. And it's like that, you know, like little bits. And you shift into a whole new vibration. And that's beautiful. What is the book called? My book, it's called Beyond Success. I have it here. Amazing.

And maybe you want to read a little bit to us? Oh, I'd love to. Yeah, it's Beyond Success, Your Blueprint, Personal Fulfillment. And I think it might be interesting to read kind of the opening here where, because we were talking about how we're raised in this society, and it's ingrained so much in us in achieving. There might be a nice place to start. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay. Do you remember as a child the never-ending significance placed on achievement? Perhaps for you, it still echoes through every moment of your life. What about the heaviness that came with it? Do you recall it weighing down on every dream and desire? Me too. When I was growing up, my world seemed to revolve around one thing, how well I did. In school, by getting straight A's, in sports or music, by receiving the trophy or award,

in the community through admission to the reputable university and in life by becoming a success story. Do you relate? But contraryly, were you ever taught about fulfillment or how to recognize it or how crucial it is to overall happiness? Me neither. Now take a moment and think back

to when you were young and impressionable. How many times can you count someone advising you of the following? Slow down. Enjoy the process. It's okay to change your mind once you have more information. Choosing something else is not the same thing as quitting. It can take real courage to change course when your heart is no longer in it. It's not only all right but completely unnecessary to know all the answers. Personally, I have no recollection of learning any of these key mindset skills or seeing many elders model them.

And interestingly enough, neither do countless clients I've supported. and this is not a coincidence. Perhaps these particular skills require knowing how to consistently create space. Space for the re-examination of one's thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and choices. My lived experience shows me that without this regular re-examination, we end up navigating adulthood with a belief system that no longer serves us. That's beautiful. And yes, I was not asked those questions or given that advice either.

Right, it's so true. And I love that the key word there is space, you know, and that's more of what we need in our lives to slow down, to speed up, create space, to feel, to be, to not do as much and rather sit with the being. And I feel like this is a conversation that's coming up more and more around me with people, you know, we're human beings, not human doing. So we forget that. And last week we were also. spoke to James Outson who was talking about going from extraordinary to ordinary and what that journey is like just, you know, it's okay just to be. It's nice to just be human, like just enjoy the journey. I can kind of hear my Ashley, our social media manager going like hashtag the feels life. That's what it's about. So yeah, but and I thought this is maybe a nice moment. We have some segments we do on the podcast to move.

into one of them and make some space to, first of all, say thank you to our partners. RSS.com who allow us the distribution of this podcast and these conversations and making space for this in the world. Thank you to you guys. And they've also given our audience a wonderful discount. If you're ever keen to do a podcast yourself, you can let us know. And then there's also a blender bombs or bomb company who are nutritious snacks. and they've given our audience a 20% discount if you order with the fields.

They're mostly in America. I don't know if you've seen them, Stephanie, but they're really nutritious and wonderful. So we have a lot more partners coming that I will announce next month. But I also wanted to do a little spotlight on a person, place or space, that has the fields. And I thought it would be really nice to shout out where we met. because new friends in Paris is a lovely community. It's a great friend, Frank, who hosts these exchanges in Paris,

and it's people who come together, internationals who speak different languages. Even if we don't always speak them so well, we try, you know, and it's a great place to meet people and discover new places and spaces in the city as well. So a big shout out to him and to the community. And then last, you know, second lastly, I want us to chat about. about our gems, which is just a moment of kind of what's been happening in your week. For me, it has been sort of the key line of creativity. It's been so, so busy.

And sometimes even when you're busy with the creative stuff that you love, you forget why you're doing that. And a good friend of mine from South Africa, he was like, nobody's doing anything cool at the moment. Let's have a tiny day's concert. and we're doing this little bookshop all together. He pulled people together that have never met Shalda before, musicians. And we got together yesterday and we were rehearsing his songs.

He wrote a EP, they're super cool, very like R&B and pop, kind of 90s vibe. And I just walked away back to the office and I thought music is the answer. To me, it made my day. This is when I'm at my happiest is when I'm singing and laughing with other people around music. and creativity and jamming together. So that was a huge dream for me this week. How about for you? Oh, that's a really good question.

You know, for me, what I do is I personally take space to lay flat on my back, arms wide. And usually I try to do 90 degrees against the wall. wall so that I'm relaxing my leg fascia and the open heart open chest. And then I ask myself, I mean, I'm basically asking, what do you most want me to know? And when I can take space and time to do that, I mean, the truth is probably a couple times a week. The goal is daily. because when I check in like that and I have that knowing it doesn't matter how the day unfolds

you know I've heard myself I've seen myself and then I've given whatever that is to myself and I think we've been talking about the world being very busy and everything's vying for our time and we have these computers in our pocket

that is giving us information non-stop. And I think as creatives, like, we have to take a break from the input in order to be able to generate what it is that we're here to create. And so I find my most creative spaces come after doing something like that.

The recharge, the creative recharge. Yeah, that's so important. I love that. I mean, you were asking that question, all my hair, like in my head stood upright. Like, what is the answer to call? I love it. That's amazing. Thanks for sharing.

And I wonder if everyone else has this thing out there, what are your gems? What are your moments? How are you relieving, achieving and making space? We're kind of closing out this theme. It was such a big theme to talk about, you know. And I feel like we can go on about it forever and ever because that's really the human journey until we don't struggle with it anymore. But thank you so much for sharing all of that.

And one last question. Yes. You've shared your book with us, but I also want to know if you have any other books that you can recommend to our audience. So we have a thing called the stack on the reading list. And so if you have some on your stack there,

even if it's just one. Oh, I do. So we can add them to the website. This is my friend. and colleague, Mark McGuinness. He's a creative coach as well out of the UK, and he's a poet. And this is his 21 insights for 21st Century Creatives. He also has a podcast called the 21st Century Creative. And it's so great. It's just like 21 chapters of just little snippets, things to remember as a creative person. And I find so many gems in this. And this is one of those.

books that I find also that just having it within reach. Like if you're like in a creative place or you're stumbling or like, oh, where do I want to put my focus today? Like sometimes you could just pick it up and read a paragraph or whatever and you're like, oh, off to the races, you know. So I love that one. Amazing. What else do I have that I want to? You know, it's funny. I have tiny habits, but I also have atomic habits that we spoke about, and then this book. This book changed my life. So I'll share you this one. It's called Manifesting with Alignment.

Oh, wow. That sounds amazing. This book, seven hidden principles to master the energy and thoughts and emotion. And changed my life that book. We should continue that discussion on another episode for sure. Or in person or a coffee in Paris would be amazing. But thank you so much for those recommendations.

I'll definitely check them out and we'll be adding them to the stack on the website. So if you're a reader, then or even if not, go check them out and happy reading to everyone out there. And yeah, just a final big thank you, Stephanie, for sharing so openly. And yeah, just being,

I feel like you have this such positive light around you and it's wonderful. I've had like a really long day. It's been so lovely to embrace this moment and share this with you. And you are doing amazing work in the world. So thank you for doing that and sharing your life with everyone. Thank you, Nicole. And this podcast is obviously something that really touches a lot of people, you know, who knows where they're listening from. And I think it's really wonderful to connect creatives in that way and really allow people to to connect through their feelings as well. So thank you for creating this podcast as well as inviting me.

If you haven't just yet, follow Friday Feels on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn, you can share with us all your feels this week by tagging us at Fridayfeels.com. And you can also find the website at that handle. And now, as you ease into this weekend, take a moment. celebrate who you've become, what you've overcome, and what is yet to come as you do, the crazy and cool things that you do as the authentic you. You know, the truth about life and work is that it's hard,

but the beauty is this global working experience that you're in while we are in it together. So keep connecting, empowering and inspiring this week. And of course, keep it raw and warm. Until next time.